Life Without Death

A week ago I posted the video on Facebook of a skydiver that jumped 25,000 feet from an airplane without a parachute. The question that keeps coming up is why would someone do that? This is a great question. Why do people do things like skydiving, bungee jump, and make jet propelled boats?

I started pondering the question and it took me back to the idea of identity. You see in Genesis we are told that "God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them" (Genesis 1:27 NIV). Because we are created in the image of God, we are not created to die. Death is a result of the fall. (See Genesis 2-3). Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us that God "set eternity in the human heart." We have a desire for things to be restored.  We are eager for the curse of sin to be reversed.  We want a life without death.  That is the life we were created for.  

What does this have to do with jumping out of airplanes without a parachute?  How much closer can you get to a life without death?  It is a taste of that eternity that is deep down inside of us.  We want to get as close to eternity without crossing that line.

For you who take no risks, I have this question.  Why? I would argue that the yearning for self-preservation stems from the exact same place.  We all want a life without death.

The bad news is that Romans 3:23 tells us that we have all sinned and fall short of God's standards.  Romans 6:23 tells us that "the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is ETERNAL LIFE in Christ Jesus our Lord." (emphasis mine)

John 3:16 says "For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have ETERNAL LIFE."  (emphasis mine)

So life without death is possible.  It is possible because Jesus came and died for us on the cross.  We can place our trust in him, and though we may experience death in this life we can walk from this life into eternal life.  We can say like the Apostle Paul “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (I Corinthians 15:55)

Thank you for reading Through My Eyes.  If you are enjoying what you are reading please share it with others.  You can also follow me on Twitter @brandonalverson.  If you are interested in having me speak to your group or organization you can use the "Contact Me" section at www.brandonalverson.com